HVAC performance tracking system and method thereof

Abstract

A system and method of monitoring the performance of an HVAC system including a controller in communication with an HVAC unit where the method includes monitoring environmental conditions using a controller. A target rate of change in indoor air temperature (IATR) can be established, and one or more adjusted environmental values can be adjusted to account for the adjusted IATR measurement. An adjusted IATR value can be established using one or more equations adjusting for a target sensible capacity value of one or more environmental factors in comparison to the measured sensible capacity of the one or more environmental factors to determine the adjusted IATR. The environmental factors can include but are not limited to the indoor air temperature, indoor humidity, outdoor air temperature, and any other measured parameter that could affect system capacity. The system can generate an alert when the adjusted IATR value reaches a pre-determined threshold.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method for monitoring performance and determining fault detection of a heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system, comprising:
 initiating a performance evaluation period through an HVAC controller communicatively coupled to the HVAC system; 
 monitoring the operation of the HVAC system using a monitoring system controller; 
 obtaining baseline data for one or more environmental factors from at least one of the following:
 the HVAC controller communicatively coupled to the monitoring system controller; 
 one or more sensors communicatively coupled to the HVAC controller; or 
 one or more or databases communicatively coupled to the monitoring system controller; 
 
 generating a measured rate of temperature change (IATR) value during the performance evaluation period; 
 generating an adjusted rate of temperature change (IATRadj) value at intervals during the performance evaluation cycle using a performance analysis algorithm, the IATR value, and
 obtained environmental data; wherein the environmental data comprises: 
 indoor air temperature (IAT); indoor relative humidity (IDRH); and outside air temperature (OAT); and one or more of the following: 
 historical measured performance data for the HVAC system; or 
 manufacturer system performance product data, wherein the generated IATRadj value reduces variability of the IATR value to better evaluate the performance of the HVAC system by utilizing the environmental data as adjustment factors; and 
 
 alerting a user when the IATRadj value reaches a threshold value. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the HVAC system includes an HVAC controller communicatively coupled to the monitoring system controller. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the system monitoring controller generates an adjustment factor for the one or more environmental factors based on the data obtained during the performance evaluation period to minimize the variance of the IATRadj value. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the IATRadj value is calculated using the following equation: IATRadj=IATRmeasured*f (IAT, IDRH, OAT). 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 2 , wherein the environmental factors include at least one of the following:
 barometric pressure, outdoor humidity, wind exposure or solar exposure. 
 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the database includes a weather database for obtaining outside air temperature. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the baseline data is obtained by the monitoring system controller when the HVAC system is operating a heating or cooling cycle for a predetermined interval. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the baseline data is provided to the monitoring system controller via the HVAC controller, and wherein the baseline data is stored on a memory. 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 1 , wherein one or more baseline data values is provided to the monitoring system controller via an external source. 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the intervals range from one second to five-minutes. 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the IATRadj value is calculated using the following equation: IATadj*IDRHadj*OATadj*IATRmeasured. 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 3 , wherein the adjusted IATR value generated using an algorithm to minimize IATR variability utilizing one or more of the adjustment factors. 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the performance evaluation period is selected from one of the following:
 a pre-determined interval; 
 a pre-determined number of heating or cooling cycles; or 
 a number of heating or cooling cycles until a IATRadj variance limit value is reached. 
 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 11 , wherein the HVAC controller is a wireless enabled thermostat. 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the performance analysis algorithm is configured to generate the IATRadj by solving one or more constants over the performance evaluation period for least IATR variance.